Nigeria


Audu Maikori
Age: 31

My Job Title

President/CEO - Chocolate City Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria

My Education

University of Jos, Faculty of Law (1993-1999)

My Work

"I am the CEO of Chocolate City. I oversee the record label, artist management and events promotion departments of the company as well as consult for private companies in areas relating to music marketing and promotion, artist branding as well as stage and events management. Chocolate City is a full-fledged entertainment company that administers a record label, artist management, entertainment facility management (hotels, bars etc.), recording studio, events management and promotion as well as general consultancy for clients.

My responsibilities are basically to coordinate the various arms of the company to ensure uniformity in the product and to ensure they function separately but with independently were necessary. The concept behind CC is to create a one-stop centre for entertainment needs centred on music, which is the constant theme in our activities. For example, the bar/clubs we run are a meeting point for our consumers and help us evolve a database for profiling their views and taste in relation to artists and their music, while featuring or show casing artists in live sessions or otherwise. The recording studios we set up help artists access the latest and best quality equipment and personnel and also ensure that the artist has adequate time to hone their music to the highest technical standards ably guided by a team of seasoned producers and sound engineers.

I have also negotiated terms for the use/license of music for synchronisation in television series and movies on which is something I am particularly pleased with, because of the correlation between music and movies and no serious industry can operate without having structures in place to benefit and exploit from the extra revenue that can accrue from the Nollywood and the boost it gives to out artists."

Issues in the music industry in my country

On the positive side:

• Nigeria has in the past 5 years evolved its own unique sounding music, which was non-existent after the likes of Fela, Sunny Ade, Bongos Ikwe. The awareness and response to our music is increasing steadily and rapidly, slowly leading to greater patronage of our indigenous music, which of course has a positive effect on album sales of recording artists.
• More corporate bodies have deployed the use of artists as brand ambassadors and icons, which has led to a reasonable increase in the earning avenues and power of artistes but in the long term, they are still exploiting the industry without giving back.
• Our music is gaining more recognition internationally, with the increasing nominations of Nigerian artists for international awards in big music events such as the MTV, MOBOS and Kora awards.
• The NCC seems to be more focused in its fight to counter piracy leading to more anti-piracy awareness which will help the cause of all stakeholders in the industry
• Music videos (particularly local ones) have increased in quality in leaps over the past two years, giving Nigerian music more mileage internationally.
• More people are getting into various aspects of the industry in a more organised manner leading to a better cohesion within stakeholders

On the negative side:

• There are no proper distribution channels to get the music to the consumer and also track record sales.
• Piracy has increased exponentially due to new technology (although the same applies worldwide) however Nigeria has at least 15 world class duplicating plants operating within Lagos illegally and robbing the industry of its gains.
• Music industry people do not understand the peculiarities of the music business and need to be educated and trained, workshops for capacity building must be created and stimulated.
• The two music societies (MCSN & PMRS) have failed to protect artist interests due to squabbling over who has legitimacy or supremacy, this has led to loss of royalties to the artists and NCC's biased role in the imbroglio has further exacerbated the issues therein.
• PMAN the biggest music association in Nigeria is also torn by internal politics and has failed to cater for the needs of artists, we are remedying that by our new association.
• A key issue is financing for the industry, music has no source of financing except by the individual efforts. Corporate bodies especially financial institutions only exploit artists for their short term gains, but do not have a plans to create financial packages for music promotion and development. People like us that started our business were lucky to source funds without which this cash intensive business cannot thrive.
• No regulatory body to administer the music industry which has led to lack of standards in the industry. The Nigerian copyrights commission has confined the us eof its broad powers under the Copyright Act (LFN 2004) to burning physical pirated CDS rather than focusing on regulating the activities of the duplicating plants, educating the public about the effects of their activities and creating an enabling environment for music to thrive in Nigeria.

Innovative artists & music business trends from my country

An innovative music artist I would like to promote during the UK is Djinee. Djinee has training as an opera singer but has been able to fuse his unique sounding voice to local instruments, in the process creating a distinct African sound that does not compromise on the quality of the music.

His groundbreaking singe Ego won him Best New Artist at the 2006 Nigerian Music awards held in London. The song was also nominated for Song of the year 2006 at the same event. In my experience most Nigerian artists try to sound like foreign acts an in the process lose their originality, Djinee has kept the Nigerian in him in his music and the blend of pidgin English in even rock inspired tracks as well as his high pitched voice stands him out in any part of the world. His debut album to be launched in April 2007 will be a testament of our projections on this awesome artist.

Aside from his vocal dexterity he is a seasoned producer, instrumentalists (proficient in the guitar, conga and keyboard) songwriter and arranger. His stage presence (inspired by his Benin roots) has enrapture audiences round Nigeria making him a musician, artist but a consummate performer."

The information above is taken from the application form completed by the finalist in early 2007. Things may have changed since this information was provided and we recommend that you should not rely upon this information as a definitive statement of current fact. Click here to contact the finalist.